Tag Archives: rum

The idea to write a cookbook started back in the summer of 2011. Back then, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing or how I was going to achieve it. Mel was equally as clueless & baffled as I was. We wanted to cook though. We knew with absolute certainty that some how, we were going to make it happen. So we just started.

It took place in his grandmother’s kitchen, me with my camera in hand, him with a scribbled piece of paper in the messiest handwriting one can imagine. I used to have to chase him after it was all done just to get the recipe & write it down in a format that made sense. He’d always assure me that he would remember, but if I had let even a day go by, the whole thing was lost.

Slowly a collection of images started growing on my computer, & a bunch of notebooks were being filled to capacity. The quality wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but it was a start.

Then came the food stalls at The Meet Market once a month… & popularity started growing. Friends would insist that we should open a restaurant, but we were still set on the idea of a book, & still just as lost at where the starting line actually was.

….eventually came the blog. A place we called home & rambled at you time & time again. It was a better way to keep track. A better way to get feedback & reviews. To start building some confidence in what we were creating.

In the spring of 2013, someone suggested we start a campaign on kickstarter. We didn’t have a clue what that meant, & quickly forgot about it as we got consumed in our daily life. Again in the summer, we were reminded of it all & finally started talking about doing it seriously. Well, I started talking about doing it seriously, he wasn’t so sure, in fact, he was rather sceptical of it all. I knew that if I put it together & he could get a visual, he would be on board with it & see my vision.

Then it happened. Life changed forever & in one night, he was gone from this world. It’s strange the path that life takes. It can be unbelievably tragic, & so beautiful at the same time. The memory of it all is still as heartbreaking as it was then… & yet, even at it’s most painful, I can smile knowing that he lived his life exactly the way he wanted to. He was happy in his existence. He didn’t let anyone dictate who he was or how he should be. He went doing something that he loved, & I’m thankful for that small favour.

Life has continued in his absence, much to my shock. I’ve had to learn how to walk & talk & exist in a world where he doesn’t. I’ve had to discover who I am all over again, & learn how to smile once more. & some how, I’ve managed to find joy & beauty in the world. I’ve also discovered determination. This project is part of that discovery. This project encompasses everything that I am, & everything that I was. It shows the life I shared, as well as the new beginning I’ve had to create & discover. It is absolutely filled with love, & the desire to create stronger bonds with the people around us. Thank god for those people.

I think it’s because of the love & support I received from others, that this book is taking on the shape & form that I plan for it. It’s not just about cooking for people, it’s about making an event out of every meal. A meal that will take you time to consume, time spent with close friends & family, hopefully laughing & savouring the dishes made. I suppose for that reason, it won’t just be a collection of recipes categorised into sections, but rather several recipes grouped together to make up a dinner party, brunch, or even a picnic. You won’t have to flip through & try & guess which recipes work together, it will all be laid out. Your starter, salad, main, dessert & even a cocktail will be mapped out from start to finish in a cohesive manner, ready to make. Of course you’re allowed to flip through & pick & chose should you wish, but you won’t have to.

Directions, crust: (make one 9″ pie, 3″ deep, or four 5″ pies, 1.5″ deep)
1. combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl & whisk to combine. Create a well in the centre & set the bowl aside.
2. in a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients & beat them together. Pour the wet mix into the well of the dry ingredients, & use a fork to slowly incorporate the two. Once the mixture becomes thick enough, you can continue to work the dough with your hands until it all comes together completely.
3. Divide the dough into two equal portions, flatten each into a disc, tightly wrap with cling film & refrigerate for two hours.

Directions, filling:
1. pre-heat the oven to 250C
2. combine all the ingredients together & mix well, set aside.
3. butter a 9″ (or four 5″ pie plates) pie plate & set aside.
4. lightly dust your work surface with oat flour, remove one of the discs of cold dough from the fridge, un-wrap & roll it out into a circle a little bigger than your pie plate. Gently lift the dough from the counter, & line your pie plate with it. If the dough tares a little, don’t worry, you can gently manipulate it & press it back together to seal any holes.
5. pour in the pie filling you made. Take the cubed butter & sprinkle it over the top of the filling.
6. remove the second disc of dough from the fridge, once again dust your work surface with flour & roll the dough out to the size of your pie plate.
7. slice the dough into strips about 1 to 2cm wide. One by one, place the strips on top of your pie in a lattice formation.
8. trim the edges of the dough around the pie plate & press the sides down with a fork for a decorative pattern. Brush the crust lightly with the beaten egg, & sprinkle with demerara sugar.
9. (for a 9″ pie) cover your pie with a sheet of aluminium foil & place your pie in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes at 250C. Reduce the oven temperature to 175C & continue to bake for another hour & a half to two hours, or until the filling starts to bubble up & over the edges.
9. (for 5″ pies) cover your pie with a sheet of aluminium foil & place your pie in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 250C. Reduce the oven temperature to 175C & continue to bake for another hour & 10 minutes, or until the filling starts to bubble up & over the edges.
10. once done, remove your pie from the oven & allow to cool completely before cutting.

Tips & tricks:
*** if you line the bottom of your oven with aluminium foil before you start, it will be much easier to clean afterwards. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to scrape off burnt sugar before, but trust me, it’s no picnic.
*** if you don’t allow the pie to cool completely, the sugar won’t set & the pie will run & fall apart instead of coming out in nice clean slices.

For months now, every time I post up a macaron recipe, I get a private message from my mum saying how I better make her macarons when she comes for a visit.

I’m talking about a woman so obsessed with the little cookies that she used to occasionally frequent a bakery in Paris that was renowned for its macarons & pay €4 for a single cookie!

….talk about setting the bar high.

Suffice to say, I wasn’t about to say “no” to her request. It just so happened that I’d been dying to try a new flavour combination & I had been holding off for her arrival so as not to overwhelm everyone with my fascination with constantly making these french (italian) cookies.

Want to hear about the flavour I’ve been dreaming about?

Chocolate. Lime. Rum!

Tell me that you aren’t drooling….

Actually, maybe you haven’t heard of the combination before so you don’t know what the appropriate level of excitement is here. Let me help you with that. The correct level of enthusiasm would be a “HELL YES!!!!”

I’m telling you, chocolate & lime… excellent. Lime & rum, excellent. Rum & chocolate, excellent. You just can’t go wrong with it. Now wrap that all up into a single macaron which is a breathtakingly good cookie all on its own, you just have pure magic.

I’m not ashamed to say that my mum was over the moon about them. I think she even managed to disappear 7 of them in a row without blinking. I’d call that a success.

I even got an “these are excellent” from Mel… & he’s not an easy person to please when it comes to food.

So there you have it. I made excellent macarons with a flavour combination that was just killer. Do it, do it now!

I’ve not mentioned anything before, but it’s time to let you all into the loop… We’re moving!!!

That’s right, Mel & I are packing up the house, donating what we no longer use & headed off to the island of Syros.

Bet you didn’t see that coming.

This glorious event will be happening on Sunday… so before we get overwhelmed with all the madness & chaos, I thought it might be time to toast.

I also decided to take this opportunity to say sorry in advance if we’re missing for a few weeks, from what I hear our internet isn’t set up yet & it could be a while, we also don’t have a high enough voltage of electricity running through our humble dwellings to power the oven. Things make take a while so just sit tight.

Don’t worry about that yet, for now, mix up one of these & have a drink with me. For the stress that’s going to soon follow. Imagine this, if I don’t have an oven soon, I wont have a birthday cake. Fingers crossed please.

Like this:

Until I started experimenting with cooking, I wasn’t a big fan of pork. The deep intense flavor of a beefy steak is hard to beat. I like games though, and generally I think that most things have to be approached with that mentality. So, when I started playing around with pork and it’s amazing variety of combinations, I was hooked… sweet barbeques sauces, glazes, fragrant spices and off course, fruits.

This week, we have a not-so-new combination of pork and pineapple… but with a twist. Most of these recipes add some spice like cinnamon, and I was looking for something unusual to make this recipe interesting enough to make it on our blog. My inspiration came from a dessert recipe book which combines pineapple with that amazing pepper I love so much… szechwan. It’s usually found in asian specialty shops or big supermarkets, and it boasts a seriously fragrant peppery aroma.

Like this:

To all of our readers, I want to wish you all a very merry christmas, happy Hanukkah, or whatever else you like to celebrate. Happy holidays!

We haven’t stopped eating since last night to tell you the truth. There were so many recipes flying around the place & too little time that the only thing documented from this whole holiday was the desserts.

This year, I served a dark chocolate butter cake with a rum icing, as well as an apple & olive oil cake with a maple icing. Tonight I’m going to share the chocolate cake since I decorated two of them, both in a festive manor!